Security News > 2020 > April > Signal sends smoke, er, signal: If Congress cripples anonymous speech with EARN IT Act, we'll shut US ops

Secure messaging app developer Signal says its US operation hangs in the balance due to a proposed law in America.

"Some large tech behemoths could hypothetically shoulder the enormous financial burden of handling hundreds of new lawsuits if they suddenly became responsible for the random things their users say, but it would not be possible for a small nonprofit like Signal to continue to operate within the United States," Signal's Joshua Lund said.

Pitched as a measure to stop the spread of child sex abuse imagery online, the EARN IT Act proposes stripping websites and the like of their Section 230 free-speech exemption under the 1996 Communications Decency Act.

Secure end-to-end encryption means exactly that: conversations are protected at all steps between the sender and recipient, and not even Signal can access the contents.

"Signal is recommended by the United States military. It is routinely used by senators and their staff. American allies in the EU Commission are Signal users too. End-to-end encryption is fundamental to the safety, security, and privacy of conversations worldwide."

News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/09/signal_earn_it/